


Of Promises and Raindrops (in that order)

by amsves



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst, Cancer, Character Death, M/M, tf when you find your old shit on your computer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 21:25:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6923932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amsves/pseuds/amsves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kise takes in his surroundings. Predictably, he is alone. It is raining, after all. But his errand today is more important than a few petty raindrops.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Promises and Raindrops (in that order)

Expensive Italian loafers plod through muddy puddles of all shapes and sizes, rendering them soaked, just like the rest of Kise’s clothes. His T-shirt clings uncomfortably to his chest and his pants are several shades darker that when he set out. Kise shivers in the cool rain, but doesn’t duck into any of the sidewalk cafes that are practically calling his name, instead continuing on towards his destination.  
  
A few minutes later, Kise arrives. As he swings open the iron gate (it squeaks and Kise jumps, even though it does that every time), he takes in his surroundings. Predictably, he is alone. It is raining, after all. Most sensible people would be inside, and the logical thing to do is join them, but Kise’s not exactly known for his sensibility and cool-headed logic. Besides, his errand today is more important than a few petty raindrops.  
  
His eyes sweep the familiar terrain, flitting over rows of gray stone and brown dirt, punctuated every now and then by a few bright flowers, before they land on his reason for coming out.  
  
“Kurokocchi.” He can’t help but breathe the name as he approaches Tetsuya’s headstone. It’s plain and undistinguished, hiding in the back right-hand corner of the graveyard where the ivy curls around the fencing and brushes against the graves. Kise approaches it quietly, the only sounds coming from his feet as they splash in the mud.  
  
When he reaches the grave, he squats low and traces the engravings with his finger. “Kuroko Tetsuya, January 31, 1995 to February 6, 2015. ‘I am a supporting actor, a shadow. But a shadow will become darker if the light is stronger.’” Kise’s mouth forms the words as his hand ghosts over the stone, but no sound comes out. The first time, and the second, and the third, he’d cried so hard he was sure Kagami could hear him in America, but now he’s silent. The pain is by no means diminished, the loss no less raw, but he had no more tears to cry. Good thing the sky was crying for him.  
  
A sad smile forms on Kise’s face. “Hey, Tetsuyacchi,” he greets Kuroko in a whisper, “Long time no see.” He pauses. “It’s May 21, do you know what that means?” Another pause. Kise tries to swallow the lump in his throat. “Yep, it’s the five-year anniversary of you agreeing to go out with me. It’s also the one-year anniversary of you finding out you had lung cancer and had six months, tops.” He wipes a stray tear away (how’d that get there, anyway?) with his soaked sleeve. It does nothing. “Six months tops to live. That was kind of a shitty anniversary present, to be honest.”  
  
Kise puts his hand into his jacket pocket, feeling for his parcel. “I never told anyone this, but I was planning on proposing to you then. But then you told me about the cancer, and I didn’t want to force you into anything, so I kept quiet. I feel like the world’s biggest idiot now. I’m not 100% sure you would have said yes, since we were only 20 years old and you were always more logical, but I should’ve asked.” He pulls a velvet box out of his pocket and opens it. “This was the ring. I had it custom-made. I have one for me, too.”  
  
A glittering, sky-blue diamond with a sun-gold band rests inside the box on a satin pillow. Kise sighs and closes it before placing it on Kuroko’s grave. “I love you, Kurokocchi,” he chokes out. “I always have, and I always will. You have inspired me, expecially during those last six months, and I will forever treasure our too-short time together. You gave me a glimpse into Heaven, and for that, I am oh so grateful.” Kise sniffs, and his whole body shakes from the cold. “I didn’t say it enough, but I-“ his legs give way and his knees hit the muddy ground, surely staining his clothes, but Kise’s past caring. “I really, really, really love you, Tetsuya.”  
  
Kise’s not sure how long he stays there, but eventually his legs fall asleep. He stands. “I’ll be back, my love,” he vows with a wink that’s lacking its usual flirtatious charm. “I won’t leave you. I promised.” As he departs, he fingers the gold ring on his own left hand.  
  
“I fully intend to keep my promise.”

~

_The wind whips through their hair as the two boys – men now, really – sit on the grassy hill. To their backs is the stony gray hospital (Kise thinks it’s like a sick joke foreshadowing the future, but if Kuroko thinks the same, he can’t tell), but in front of them, the world stretches on forever._  
  
_The shorter one, Tetsuya, shivers, and Kise wraps his arms around the shivering bluenette’s frame. “Are you cold, Tetsuyacchi? Let’s go inside.”_  
  
_“No, I want to stay out here a little longer,” Tetsuya replies. “In a little while, I won’t be able to anymore.”_  
  
_“But-“_  
  
_“Ryouta,” Tetsuya interjects, cutting him off. “Please.”_  
  
_“Alright, we’ll stay here,” Kise concedes._  
  
_They sit in silence for a moment, watching the world before Tetsuya says suddenly, “Please don’t leave me, Ryouta. Not now, not ever.”_  
  
_“I won’t.”_  
  
_“Do you promise?”_  
  
_Kise smiles with such warmth that Tetsuya has no choice but to do so as well. “Yes, I do. I promise I’ll never leave you.”_

**Author's Note:**

> When I found this thing, I discovered that I had written myself a little note at the end: "Yay sleep deprivation and angst"


End file.
